Help your growing baby develop in the twentieth week of your pregnancy

What’s happening this week?

You are now exactly halfway through a full-term pregnancy. When you go for your ultrasound scan this week, you can find out if you are expecting a boy or a girli, should you choose to.

Your growing baby’s skin is now forming additional and thicker layers. By this time, there are four layers, and one of it contains ridges—responsible for patterns on fingertips, palms and soles. He or she is also growing more hair.

Meanwhile, the part of your growing baby’s brain called the cerebellum, is developingii. It plays a vital role in motor control and is involved in both cognitive (attention, language) and emotional (regulating fear and pleasure responses) functions.

Your growing baby has certainly come a long way from that microscopic speck he or she was weeks ago. Now, he or she is about six and a third inches (16.5 centimeters) in length.iii

What can you expect?

You may have some trouble sleepingiv due to your bigger bump. Address this issue by trying out different sleeping positions. Many moms-to-be feel the most comfortable lying on their side, with their tummy supported by a pillow. Even better is to sleep on your left side. Sleeping on your left side will increase the amount of blood and nutrients that reach the placenta and your growing baby.v

What can you do to support your pregnancy?

With the cerebellum developing this week, your child’s lifelong task of learning, and yours of teaching, begins. Start to look up ways of stimulating developing baby while in the womb, boosting his or her IQ as well as EQ, which are anchored in the brain. Remember that a balance between the two is key to helping your child get a headstart in life.

From now until the last week of your pregnancy, your developing baby will undergo rapid growth. Continue to eat a healthy, balanced diet rich in DHAvi and other essential nutrients like iron, zinc, copper, choline and folate, to boost growing baby’s brain development.vii